48sw1157: a middle and late archaic camp site in the
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48SW1157: A Middle and Late Archaic Camp Site in the Wyoming Basin
48SW1157 is a stratified Middle to Late Archaic site in Sweetwater County, Wyoming. Data recovery excavation identified hearth features and recovered flaked stone and faunal remains.
Occupations appear to be short-term logistical camps associated with tool stone procurement at the nearby Delaney Rim chert source in conjunction with secondary processing of bison and
deer or pronghorn. Two unique features stand out from site components: evidence of bison hunting during the Middle Archaic, which adds to a growing body of data on bison procurement in
the Wyoming Basin during the Middle Archaic, and a Late Archaic lithic feature containing nearly 2000 chipped stone artifacts in a discrete concentration.
John Kennedy and Paul Burnett, SWCA Environmental Consultants, Rocky Mountain Region
77th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Memphis, Tennessee 2012
Middle Archaic Bison
- Bison elements include a complete distal right tibia with spiral
fracture (above), a distal left scapula (left), and a left radius
postero-lateral mid-shaft fragment (below, R15-10).
- The tibia returned an AMS date of 4740 ± 40 RCBP.
- All bison/large mammal long bones were green broken, although
no direct evidence of butchering via cut marks or impact
marks or cones is present.
A total of 100 faunal remains were recovered during excavation. Vertical
distribution was fairly even with 36 occurring in the Late Archaic component,
31 occurring transitional between Late and Middle Archaic components, and
33 occurring in the Middle Archaic component.
Distribution by Class:- 40 bison/large ungulate
- 10 unspecified large/
medium ungulate
- 2 pronghorn/medium
ungulate
- 8 small rodent
- 40 unspecified
Vertical Distribution: - Bison/large ungulate
evenly distributed
- Pronghorn/medium
ungulate transitional
component only
- Small rodents upper
components only (i.e.,
modern intrusive)
Late Archaic Lithic Feature
Late Archaic mapped items.
The Late Archaic component contained a
discrete lithic concentration (Feature 5)
containing 1,959 artifacts.
- 1,946 pieces of debitage
- 2 bifaces, 1 scraper, 1 worked flake, and
9 edge-damaged flakes
- The concentration measured 26 cm N/S by
20 cm E/W and was 14 cm thick.
- It occurred in the A horizon in stratigraphic
association with hearth features 1 and 4
- All items were Delaney Rim oolitic chert
(nodule 1) save one flake of Madison
Formation chert (nodule 4).
- 81% of debitage ≤ 20 mm
- 81% of debitage was tertiary stage
The precise function of the concentration
is unknown. It could represent:
- An activity area clean-up “push pile”
- An interior (within habitation) storage
feature
- An intentional cache
Site OverviewDelaney Rim Chert Source
Barrell Springs Draw
WYOMING
Key Traits of Site Location:- 20 miles east-southeast of Delaney
Rim chert source
- On prominent bench above Barrel
Springs Draw, which is just
below and to the east
- Commanding viewshed of
drainage and surrounding area
General Vicinity of48SW1157
Excavation:- 20.5 m2 were excavated in
a contiguous block with 2
additional test units to the
west and south.
- Identified Late Archaic and
Middle Archaic components.
- Recovered butchered bison
in the Middle Archaic
component.
View south-southeast. Site is to right of frame, Barrel
Springs Draw to left.
There was no evidence of a surface or
semi-subterranean habitation in the form
of soil disturbance, discoloration, or clear
artifact distribution.
Taphonomic factors do not appear to be
responsible for the concentration.
Location of mapped items nor soil
disconformities indicate fluvial transport
Middle Archaic faunal remains density plot. Middle Archaic mapped items. Middle Archaic lithic density plot.
The Wyoming Basin is far more arid
than the Plains to the east and there-
fore has a much lower biomass. This
trait is assumed to have led to smaller
bison populations in the Basin.
Walter-Lieth climate diagram for Wamsutter (Vose et al. 1992;
Walter and Lieth 1967).
Archaeofaunas over time support
this assumption. Bison appear in very
low numbers during the Middle Archaic
(terminal Opal and Pine Spring
phases). Thompson and Pastor go so far
as to omit a Middle Archaic from their
chronology due to a lack of evidence
for bison hunting such as that seen on
the Plains during the period.Wyoming Basin archaeofaunas (large artiodactyls, medium
artiodactyls, lagomorphs. Data are from Byers and Smith 2007.
Conclusions:48SW1157 is a multi-component open camp located near the Delaney Rim chert source and in a location that offered a commanding view
of the expansive Barrel Springs Draw and surrounding area. The location was well suited for a gearing up/quarry events followed by
assumed low-mobility, short-term camps related to hunting forays. The prominent bench along the west margin of Barrel Springs Draw
likely contains numerous similar short-term open camps. However, the deposition along this prominence is such that interpretable
subsurface archaeological contexts most likely occur in small, isolated pockets. This said, it is strongly felt that other buried sites are
probably present.
48SW1157, beyond adding a multi-component Archaic site to the regional record, provides two important additions: further evidence of
Middle Archaic bison hunting in the Wyoming Basin and a unique Late Archaic lithic feature.
Research questions pertinent to future work in the area are numerous. A few of the more important include:
- Articulating the role that the Delaney Rim chert source played in seasonally driven settlement and subsistence patterns could greatly
enhance understanding of the way prehistoric populations utilized the source and timed moves around the Wyoming Basin.
- Seasonality data derived from faunal remains should be considered a high priority to better understand seasonal rounds.
- Identification of more sites could shed light on temporal and seasonal use of both Delaney Rim chert and Barrel Springs Draw
- Recovery of additional short-term camps with faunal remains could aid in articulating whether such camps were located near kills or
rather were residential camps that contained transportable animal units brought from kill locations in the draw or the breaks west of
the prominent bench along the draw.
- Continued development in the immediate vicinity is likely and future cultural resource management should recognize the area as
having both a high likelihood to contain potentially significant archaeological sites as well as a high potential to contain sites that
could greatly improve understanding of prehistoric settlement and subsistence in the eastern Wyoming Basin.
References CitedByers, David A. and Craig S. Smith
2007 Ecosystem Controls and the Archaeofaunal Record: An Example from the Wyoming Basin, USA. The Holocene 17,8:1171-1183.
Kennedy, John, Paul Burnett, and R. Ashley Fife
2011 Archaeological Data Recovery for the Rockies Express/Entrega Pipeline at 48SW1157, Sweetwater County, Wyoming. Prepared by SWCA Environmental Consultants for Kinder-Morgan, Inc., Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and the Bureau of Land Management.
Thompson, Kevin W., and Jana V. Pastor
1995 People of the Sage: 10,000 Years of Occupation in Southwest Wyoming. Copies available from Archaeological Services Western Wyoming Community College.
Vose, R. S., R. L. Schmoyer, P. M. Steurer, T. C. Peterson, R. Heim, T. R. Karl, and J. K. Eischeid
1992 The Global Historical Climatology Network: Long-Term Monthly Temperature, Precipitation, Sea Level Pressure, and Station Pressure Data. National Climate Data Center,
Ashville, North Carolina. Available online at www.worldclimate.com.
Walter, H., and H. Lieth
1967 Klimadiagramm Weltatlas. G. Fisher Verlag. Jena, Germany.
AcknowledgementsSWCA excavated 48SW1157 as part of data recovery for the Rockies Express/Entrega pipeline under U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Land
Management permit No. 593-WY-AR10. The authors would like to thank Scott Slessman, principal investigator, R. Ashley Fife, lithic analyst and report
contributor, and excavators Mindy Burkitt, George Connell, R. Ashley Fife, Dave Kolkema, Chris Millington, and Vincent Wray.
A literature review of Wyoming Basin
sites and Late Archaic sites in the greater
region failed to find discussion of similar
lithic features. Thus, it is unknown at
present if this reflects an outlier with
regard to lithic technology or simply one
that is not overtly reflected in the written
record.
Lithic Artifacts:- 5,525 lithic artifacts recovered
- 98% of assemblage is debitage
- 90% of assemblage is
debitage < 30 mm
- 4,185 tertiary stage debitage
- 987 secondary stage debitage
- 353 primary stage debitage
- 92 edge-damaged flakes
- 26 angular debris
- 7 worked flakes
- 6 bifaces (2 early, 2 mid-, 2 late)
- 2 scrapers
- 2 cores
- 2 tested cobbles
- Recorded unique lithic
feature (Feature 5) in Late
Archaic component.
Possible anvil stones for
reducing large mammal long
bones in the Middle Archaic
component.
Stratigraphy:A horizon – Mixed eolian sand
and slopewash loam reworked
with Late Holocene eolian
sand
Btk1 and Btk2 – Slopewash
clay with low amounts of
eolian sand reworked with
Mid-Holocene eolian sand
Late Archaic features with
dates 2400 ± 30 and 2430 ± 30
RCBP occurred in the A
horizon.
Bison tibia dated to 4870 ± 40
RCBP and basin hearth
occurred
in Btk1 horizon.
Delaney Rim Chert:Thirteen different lithic nodules
were identified during analysis. At
least 6 nodules are variations of the locally available Delaney Rim chert
accounting for 98.6% of all lithics. The remainder include variations of Madison
Formation chert, Moss Agate, and unknown chert.
disconformities indicate fluvial transport
or a catchment of fluvially transported
items
While krotovina were present none
mapped during excavation were in
association with the feature, thus
discounting the possibility of a filled
rodent burrow.